Well many of my friends and family know that I was due to start my trip in Honduras, but due to the rudeness of the ousted president returning to his country post military coup and creating civil unrest in all major cities - I had not choice but to change my flight from San Pedro Sula in Honduras to Guatemala City in Guatemala, at the last minute.

The start of my big adventure was to include learning to dive on Utila in the Bay Islands of Hunduras, as we´d heard great things about Alton´s Dive Centre on Utila for gaining your Open Water PADI certificate.

Anyway, let me get back to Guatemala because we went from Montericco back to Antigua to organise our bus to La Ceba in Honduras, which is where you get the ferry across to Utila.  We went with Hedman Alas, which is a well known bus company for travelling across Honduras and which actually turned out to be some what of a luxury coach in terms of Central American buses.  Hence, the bus trip was pretty comfortable and by no means lived up to my expectations of horrible bus rides.  As part of our fare we received chips, cool drinks and a movie plus the seats were comfy and reclined!  I must say though that the first leg of the journey was in a normal shuttle, we did only pick up the luxury coach from Copan in Honduras to San Pedro Sula and then on to La Ceba.

We stayed a night in La Ceba at a horrible hostel called The River Lodge - it just looked dirty and there was no running water, so limited flushes on the toilets and no showering.  Outside of the room where we slept was the water pump which kept trying to pump the non existent water and made a hell of a noise.  Apparently they had heavy rains and floods just before we arrived which had affected the water supply - ironically.  La Ceba really is just a pit stop though, you don´t go there to stay very long.  It does however have a large shopping complex but as far as I could see that was pretty much all it had going for it.

Due to the bad weather the ferry hadn´t been going to Utila for a few days, but we were hopeful leaving at 8am on a chicken bus (my first) to head down to the port.  The chicken bus ride was cheap and fairly uneventful.  The ferry was pretty ordinary with high set windows and hard seats.  The ride was extremely bumpy meaning I had to horizon watch the whole way, meaning that I balanced on the backrest of the seat for over an hour... major numb bum... but better than nausea or worse.

We heard about the Turtle festival while in Antigua and decided we wanted to head down there, particularly as Maree and Al had tried to release turtles before and for various reasons had missed out.  I just love turtles and thought it would be quite something seeing them released in to the wild and being involved in some way. 

We left San Pedro and had to travel via Antigua to Monterrico.  When we arrived it was stinking hot... instant sweat running down your back and dripping off your face.  We had no accommodation booked and had travelled with 5 others from San Pedro making a group of 9 in total, which created difficulties not only in decision making but also in finding accommodation to house us all.  We stood there umming and aahing about where to go and what our options were, so much so that one of our options were taken by people coming from the beach side of the hostel and not the road side.  One guy - Alec suggested a place that we all went to check out... here is my impression... local gringo hell... it looked bed bug ridden, a mosquito feeding ground, biting ants galor with dogs and chickens.  Needless to say I had the view of ´hell no!´ Thankfully after much debate the others agreed. 

Prior to the hell hole, two of the guys - Nikki (the German with the Irish accent) and Dom had gone to check out a placed called ´Johnny´s Place´, which apparently had a private room and seven dorm beds - although the dorm beds had been reserved and the parties had not yet shown up.  We were told if they did not show by 5pm we could have the beds.  So, we headed over to Johnny´s only to discover that one of the bookings was by Julian, who had requested 4 dorm beds, but hadn´t had a confirmation.  Luckily for everyone Johnny´s ended up having availability for all.  At first glance Johnny´s Place seemed amazing - right on the beach front, with several swimming pools dotted around the place and two bar-restaurants out the front on the beach.  I´ll come back to my comment regarding 'first glance'.

We were warned about the black sand and how it heats up during the day - thus foot wear is an essential, and we were warned about mosquitoes and sandflies - so drowned all exposed skin in repellent and wore long pants, sandals with socks... yes you read correctly... it is a new sexy and trendy look... trust me! :)

Once we were covered up and smelling pretty revolting, we headed down to the beach to catch the evenings release of baby turtles.  We arrived to a scene of mayhem - hundreds of people were milling about, many had bought tickets to collect baby turtles for release.  People came around with buckets filled with hundreds of baby turtles, which they were exchanging for tickets.  Some how - briefly - I ended up with a baby turtle, but I felt bad for it so released it straight away.  Many kids were given baby turtles to release and a lot of the younger ones couldn´t really understand that it was not a toy.  One little girl was encouraged to put it down, only to keep picking it up and dropping it on it´s head... I was relieved when her mother finally made her leave it alone.  The little brat then proceeded to cover my sexy sock-sandals in black sand... there was temptation to throttle her.

We then watched the little baby turtles scuttle across the beach to the sea´s edge, which was quite some journey - I felt that the barrier was too far back from the sea´s edge.  As the turtles made their way we watched an amazing sunset across the sea, then headed back to Johnny´s for dinner.  Afterwards we went next door which was filled with locals dancing or should I say 'dirty dancing' to regeton - the most popular music across South and Central America.  There was one particular couple who provided us with much entertainment, the girl in a red bikini - barely able to hold herself up, and her partner bumping and grinding away - making sure she kept standing... well... sort of.  Maree kept saying - 'her bikini did well to stay up'.

After a couple of drinks we decided that even with a couple of drinks under our belt we were not quite ready to dance to regeton, so we headed back to Johnny´s which was playing more varied and western music.  The drinks kept flowing and we had a laugh... I even did a bit of table top dancing... lol... well they had long bench tables on the beach front and I just figured it was easier to dance on there than on the sand in my sexy sock sandals. 

We headed to bed around 1am, but the party on the beach front kept going all night long.  Not much sleep was had in our dorm, as it sounded like the party was right outside... and well... it was... plus people kept coming and going from the room and it was incredibly muggy - despite the fans.  Needless to say we decided to leave Johnny´s - at first glance it seemed like a really cool place to stay, however it was just too crazy with people partying to all hours and not respecting the place at all i.e. we saw people peeing in the showers, in the swimming pools, being sick, sharing beds and pretty much sleeping where they fell.

Thankfully we moved to a place down the road - Hotel el Basco, it was more of a family place - quieter and cleaner.  They also had a decent sized pool.  So after sorting out our rooms we headed straight for a swim... the water was warm but still very refreshing.  There were a lot of festivities about including a couple of low flying show planes, which were flying along the beach front.  Maree, me and Al watched them for a while occasionally stepping in to waves, which I soon decided against due to the strength of the current.  I totally understood why they said it was not really a swimming beach, because I nearly lost the shoes off  my feet and undoubtedly I would have been swept out to sea if I had attempted to swim.

That eve we headed back to the beach for the baby turtle release.  I decided to wear a dress and flip flops this time as it was just too damn hot, but I made sure to cover myself in repellent.  Well, as we walked along the beach I soon became covered in black beach sand as it stuck to the repellent... I think I gave a new image for the term 'dirty backpacker'.  Unfortunately when we got to the place for the turtle release they had sold out of tickets, so we could only ask locals if we could pose with their baby turtles before they released them.  The one I held was geared and ready to go as it kept trying to climb off my hands.

We then headed to the main square for some more local music, we had watched a band play for an hour the night before.  Everyone ate street food except for me, as street food isn´t always veg friendly.  We were entertained by a rather drunk local who kept trying to dance and involve us.  I have to say that some of the guys were great sports, including Alan who brought out his infamous ´gibber chick´ - which can only really be described as a headless chicken on one leg... awesome entertainment for all!  I however am not a fan of dancing with drunk smelly men, so declined the offer to get up there and boogie.

The following morning we went on a tour of the mangroves with a local guide at 5.30am.  We were a little sceptical as we walked along in the early hours to river and were told to get on this rickety looking boat.  Needless to say it was amazing, it was early enough that we were the only people heading in to the mangroves and as such it was so tranquil.  The water was shallow and our guide moved us through the mangroves using a pole, pointing out wildlife and plants as we moved along.  We eventually came out in to a clearing where a small village was located.  It was stunning being in the mangroves for the sunrise, something I previously would have only dreamed of doing.

We left later that morning to head back to Antigua to get a bus to La Ceba in Honduras, so that we could get the ferry across to Utila in the Bay Islands to do our PADI course.  We decided to go to Honduras despite the political troubles as it was showing up less and less in news searches, and we were hearing of other travellers who had just come back from the Bay Islands without any issues.  We also kept hearing very positive things about doing your PADI course at Alton´s on Utila, and word of mouth is usually the best way to go.

Here's an interesting little tidbit I've learned about Tico-talk...

The other day, as I wrote earlier, Noemy's neighbor brought over Caribbean food for lunch, complete with rice and beans, chicken in a spicy sauce, a macaroni salad, and maduros (fried plantains). As we ate happily, Noemy kept saying "que buena la negrita, me alegro con la negrita" (What a nice job the little black woman did). In English, of course, that's offensive. I think that's because we pretend to be color-blind and ignore the subject of race as much as possible. But I wasn't sure if Noemy's remarks were, in fact, racist, or if her words carried a different connotation.

So later that night, when I went out with some students and friends, I heard it again. Someone was talking about a friend of his who happened to be dark-skinned, whom he referred to as "el negro." I had to ask. Is that a derogatory joke between friends or is it a term of endearment? The assured me that in Spanish, when someone refers to another person by the color of their skin, it is a kind nickname. In addition, I've been called "machita" by countless taxi drivers and men on the street, and had to wonder what it meant. I knew, of course, it was some kind of comment toward my looks, but I didn't know exactly what it meant, so I asked a friend, who explained that it was a synonym for "rubia." Blondie (or perhaps even "whitey;" I'm not really sure). I've never considered myself a blonde, but compared to most people here, I am much lighter, hence warranting the nickname "machita."

Instead of pretending to ignore people's races, they embrace it. This is not to say that ticos are completely not racist (as is made clear by their jokes and sentiments toward Nicaraguans, or Nicas), but rather, that they may refer to someone as "blondie/whitey," or "the little black woman" or even "blackie" and it's a term of endearment. I don't, however, envision "blackie" becoming a term of endearment in the English language anytime soon...

Last night, I went out with a student of mine who had invited to me to go out for a friend's birthday. I'm trying to get my students to see me as a young person living abroad, rather as just their English teacher. In this town, as a gringa English teacher, if you don't make friends with your students, you're not going to make many friends, since most 20-somethings in Liberia are enrolled in the classes. Some of them have started to invite me out places, which is nice, but others haven't come around yet. Anyway, his friends were nice and they obeyed my "if you hang out with me outside of class, you must speak at least 50% Spanish with me; if you want private English lessons, you can pay me" rule. :)

Noemy’s daughter Sabrina is also in town this weekend, visiting from college in San José. Yesterday, Noemy’s neighbor brought over Caribbean food (which was a nice spicy break from the normally bland Costa Rican food), and today we ordered pizza. And Noemy bought a delicious papaya that I’ve been snacking on constantly. So it’s been a pretty damn good food weekend, which means it was an overall good weekend.

Tomorrow, I’m meeting with Sofia (the 10-year-old I’m tutoring) again and trying to get in touch with a few other potential tutoring clients. And I promised Noemy I’d help her with her English homework. I’m actually making a life here for myself and I like it. The only thing that’s going to suck is Thanksgiving, which is normally my favorite holiday. So if you’re American and you’re in Liberia for Thanksgiving, please give me a call. I will be a lonely little gringa.

In other news, on November 28, I will have been here 90 days, which means, if I don't have a work visa, I've got to make a "border run" out of the country for at least 72 hours. I am supposed to have a work visa, since I work with the INA, a government program; however, my background check won't arrive from the Costa Rican government in DC until after my 90 days are up, so I've gotta scat. I'm told that the 72 hours rule is loosely applied and all I really have to do is get Nicaraguan officials to give me a stamp saying I've been out for that long, which they apparently will do for a small fee... But it all depends on what they tell me when I get there. Funny how things work...

So, if you just happen to be in the area, come to San Juan del Sur with me next Sunday, November 15! But if not, I will be venturing out on my own. Don't worry, Mom, I'll be safe! (But please don't show this entry to Dede.) I’m embracing the opportunity- It should be exciting to explore a new place on my own. Fellow travbuddies reading this: feel free to give me advice about traveling on your own, in Nicaragua, or anything else you think will come in handy. I’d appreciate whatever you’ve got to share.

We were in a pinch and needed to find an affordable, decent place to stay for the night. This hotel was close to BZE and provided free transporation to/from the airport. We were pleasantly surprised to find the amenities included a restaurant (with free breakfast), a bar and air conditioning! I was not pleasantly surprised to see a gecko hanging around outside my window. A double-bed room went for $55 USD/night. Tel-501/225-2555 Email-globalhotel@btl.net

We loved this place, it has a wonderful unique atmosphere with live music every night, talks given by local charities every Tuesday, excellent healthy food at very reasonable prices, amazing murals on the walls, very friendly service and a book shop in the entrance as well. We came here at least once every day while we were in Antigua and can´t recommend it enough!

This B&B is a beautiful home above the town of West End. Just 5 minutes up the road gets you into a peaceful, beautiful setting. The owner, Barbara, is a wonderful, helpful, spirited Italian. The deck on the roof is a fantastic place to watch the sun set or just hang out. The house is beautiful, bedroom upstairs is very big & cozy at the same time. A little pricey for Honduras, but was a great place to stay close to town but out of the thick of things. One tip - it's a little hard to find, especially if you're arriving at night. They can arrange to have you picked up at the airport.

Early morning went to pick up Robert and we went to the mall caus i wanted to get a new piercing, so we went, had coffee on the way there, and then i finally got the one i wanted, just had a quick look of some other things, caus that day we were heading out to Antigua Guatemala.

The day was great to walk around and show my new found friend my wonderful country, Antigua Guatemala as always amazing, we actually get to walk around the city, while we talked about lots of things and went to some historical places and see some of the great fine art that has antigua in its treasures, also had lunch at my very personal favorite place, the "Caldo de Kak-ik" its a must when you come to Guatemala. Ohh yeah! almost forgot the Great Coffee that only Guatemala has, yeah we had some later that day, before buying our "Volcan de Pacaya" tour that we were gonna start on sunday, definetaly that day was one of the greatest, we got to spend some time chatting about his country Poland with a very good book about Poland that he gave me that day, it really got me more interested in knowing this great country, now knowing about its history and wonderful place i can say now, that definetaly Poland is in my list of places that i want to visit, maybe with Robert who knows.

Later that night when we came back to Guatemala city, we went back to the mall actually to the movies VIP section,  we went to see "Surrogates" yeah!!! it was a well movie, i was actually so tired i fell to sleep, haha in the middle of the movie, i think Robert did too :D but i think we actually did get to see most of it at least i remember. :D

Had a great time hanging out with this Dude and the upcoming days were even greater!

:D

I was extremely pleased with my decision to stay at this hotel just perfect, the restaurant was great., pool was great, rooms are fabulous and price is ok.

Finally moved on to escape Granada's grasp , catching a ferry to the volcanic island of Ometepe which is situated in the middle of the vast Lake Nicaragua and is apparently the largest freshwater island in the world. Enjoyable 4-hour ferry ride from Granada to get to Ometepe with views of the two volcanoes as you approach the island and a picture postcard sunset just before we docked. Stayed at a hotel for one night in Altagracia, the little town where we arrived at the port , as it was too late to get a bus to Merida where we were planning on staying. Not a lot to warrant hanging around in Altagracia , however , so we got up early and caught the first bus down to Merida , which is in the southwest of the island , on Tuesday morning. Stayed at a pretty nice hostel situated right on the lake shore which apparently used to be a ranch belonging to the former president Somozo Garcia before the Sandinistas confiscated it . It has it's own little pier / fishing jetty which was great for diving into the sea , clear views of the volcanoes and watching the fabulous sunsets with a cold Tona. Ometepe is shaped in a figure of eight , with each loop of the eight having it's own volcano , Concepcion and Maderas. "Volcan Concepcion" is a really classic conical volcano shape and is still active , meaning you cant climb up higher than about 1000m, whilst "Volcan Maderas" is extinct and covered in vegetation & cloud forest making for arguably a more interesting climb up to the 1400m summit. Spent the first day in Merida taking it easy , enjoying the jetty and the hammocks before on Wednesday I hired a mountain bike and biked to a nearby biological station from where its possible to hike to the 110m high San Ramon waterfall.  

This turned into a harder trek than I was expecting, especially as we were planning a more restful day before taking on the Maderas climb the following day .... definitely further than the 3km it was supposed to be to get there (some "latin american distances" being quoted me thinks) and all uphill in the searing Ometepe heat. After about 90 minutes hiking it was a relief to finally reach the waterfall , which was somewhat lacking in water but just about had enough to take a cold natural shower underneath it to cool down. On Thursday myself and the two guys with whom I came from Granada , Bill and Martin , took on the 7-hour round trip to the summit of Volcano Maderas. This turned out to be the hardest volcano climb I have undertaken so far (this is my 4th volcano in Central America) due to the unrelenting gradient (no nice plateaued sections for easier walking) and the heat and humidity which leaves you literally drenched in sweat from the start at 7.30 am. Towards the summit you are almost on hands and knees trying to haul yourself upwards and clinging onto trees and other vegetation for support. Apparently many groups taken up there by the local tour guides dont make it up there and give up along the way , but the spectacular views at the top make all the struggle and effort worthwhile. We saw a hidden lagoon nestling away in between the cloud forest covered slopes and a marvellous landscape view across Ometepe's coastline and the other volcano , Concepcion. Alas no howler monkeys along the way though as some other people had seen on their way up the day before. Arrived back at the hostel a total body wreck - exhausted , sore legs and back , bitten , scratched and red from the sun ... but these sort of expeditions I find an immensely rewarding part of my travel experience and they make the down-time lazing in a hammock even more appreciated !

 On Friday the other guys left for the Corn Islands which are quite a journey across to the other side of Nicaragua on the caribbean coast , whilst I decided to stay one more day in Merida for some more mountain biking before heading onwards to Costa Rica. I shrugged off the sore legs from the previous day´s volcano climb to bike 15km to Santa Domingo beach and back on the Friday - I wanted to get out & see some more of the island and a mountain bike is a pretty good way to do it. The roads on Ometepe are pretty dreadful , however
- potholed , bumpy and covered in a volcanic dirt which blows up into great dusty clouds every time a bus or truck comes past ... luckily you do tend to encounter more animals and locals on mountain bikes than vehicles ... but still by the time I got back to the hostel I was knackered and filthy dirty. Ometepe has been a really wonderful stopover but it´s become time to move on again so Saturday morning I was up early to go to Costa Rica.

Well the time has flown by recently and my planned 2-3 days in Granada has turned into staying for a full week here and it's been really great - one of my favourite stopovers and the longest I've stayed in one place on my trip apart from Xela where I stopped for the Spanish lessons. Similar to Xela , Granada is a place that seems to effortlessly suck you in to wanting to stay for longer and just hang around with the friends you make here . It's easy to see why Granada is one of the most popular and highly rated places on the Central American backpacker trail. It has a wealth of pretty colonial buildings, a great setting on the edge of Lake Nicaragua and a happening travellers scene ... but still the local character of city is somewhat more preserved in my opinion than for example Antigua in Guatemala which comes to my mind as an obvious comparison. So I've been spending much time here checking out the city and its many interesting buildings , playing pool in the local pool hall and frankly quite a bit of simply lazing around at the hostel (which is a super place - hammocks , movies , playing cards and it's own little swimming pool) .... I would describe it as a bit of battery recharging before I go onwards with my trip. Nightlife has been really good , especially the rum filled nights at "Cafe Nuit" , one of which on Friday moved quite impressively on to open-all-night bar by the lake , ending in watching the sunrise and an early morning swim in Lake Nicaragua. Have enjoyed a couple of day trips out of Granada into surrounding places as well - one to the nearby town of Masaya for the famous artesania market & its lakeside setting and another one to the stunning Lago de Apoya which is a great lagoon setting with swimming in the lake .. but where we managed to get completely lost trying to find our way home - resulting in trying to follow a cow for guidance (bizarre but true) , hiking for over 2 hours , ending up on a farm trying to explain to a Nicaraguan farmer why we were tramping around on his fenced off land and finally push-starting a tuk-tuk taxi so the driver could take us back to Granada. Going forward the plan is now to catch a ferry on Monday afternoon to the Island of Ometepe for a few more days, before I head onwards down to Costa Rica and the others are planning to go across to the other side of Nicaragua to the Corn Islands.

I had been told a number of times about Caramba from fellow TravBuddies who I was in Ambergris Caye with, so I thought I'd try it out for myself. On a day when the entire meet-up crew was off doing other things I took it upon myself to decide where to eat lunch. As I was the only one I had to talk into anything it was a pretty easy decision. Caramba is in San Pedro seemingly right in the heart of the town. Or at least not too far from it. I seemed to be having quite the burger binge on this trip. So many of the places I visited tempted me with a cheeseburger. The one at Caramba had some bacon included. I do love me some bacon :) They had some hot sauce along with ketchup on the table, and boy was it ever hot. I'm glad I wasn't too liberal in the application of the hot sauce. Caramba was a very tasty place, with some good atmosphere. It seemed to fit really well with the overall personality of Ambergris Caye. Laid back, casual, friendly.

Hotel Cabezas is located in a very smelly, dirty part of Puntarenas. That's what I love about it! It's not touristy Costa Rica. Gringos are few in this area unless you go to the beach where cruise ships sometimes dock. The rooms at Hotel Cabezas are very basic, but also very cheap.(I got a single private for 4000 colones, which is equal to around seven dollars.) The rooms are small with a bed, small table, and fan. There are two bathrooms that have cold water showers. One thing I liked was how clean the bathrooms were here. I think these were the cleanest restrooms I encountered while in Puntarenas. I would recommend Hotel Cabezas to travelers on a budget, just looking for a place to take a shower and get a good nights sleep.

I'm getting accustomed to life here in Liberia. Overall, I like the laid back lifestyle. Most Costa Ricans (even Josefinos, people from San Jose) will tell you that Guanacaste (the northwest region of Costa Rica, of which Liberia is the capital) is the best part of Costa Rica and so far, I agree. My favorite things about it, I've gotta say, are its safe atmosphere and sense of community. Of course, I still get shouted lewd comments from dirty old men on the street, and there are plenty of places for me to cause a sufficient amount of trouble, but having traveled through cities of all sizes, I've found that my favorite size is just this. I don't think it's a coincidence that Liberia is almost exactly the same size as IU, my beloved alma mater. I've even found a cute little coffee shop with free wi-fi and yummy coffee that reminds me a little bit of the Pourhouse, my favorite coffee shop in Bloomington. Liberia, does not, however, share the same beautiful season of fall with Bloomington, and it is a crying shame. That's number one on my "things I miss" list right now (besides Lacey, my dog, of course): the colors, the smell, the flavors of fall. Okay, just had to reminisce about my alma mater a little bit. Moving on...

So the moral of the story is I like it here. I'm looking for a few more tutoring gigs to keep me busy (and out of debt), but overall life is good. I never really pictured myself as a teacher, but that's exactly what I am. Getting to know my students is definitely the best part. Since I'm teaching with a government-sponsored program, I get all kinds of people: lawyers, bell hops, teachers, high school students, taxi drivers, and more. I have my first tutoring lesson tomorrow with an eight-year-old girl one of the other teachers met in the park one day. She seems really smart and eager to learn English, since she will be going to a private school with an intensive English program next year. It should be fun. I really love the people I've met here so far and I'm excited to meet more.

Noemy, my new host mom, has been great. Except lately, she's been getting mad at me when I don't eat the food she buys, even though her providing food is not a part of our deal. Everyone's got a little Jewish mother in them, I guess... The longer I'm here, the more I realize what a great deal I have. It's nice because I don't speak a whole lot of Spanish outside the house, so I like speaking it at home. My goal is to go at least one full day without speaking one word in English. That means no talking to anyone from home, no teaching English class and no writing or talking online in English. I hope to have a few of those days while I'm here... This coming weekend, I'm planning on hanging out with some of my students and some of their friends. I hope their friends don't speak English. :)

This is a great place to stay on your first or last nights in Costa Rica. It's close to the airport and they have a shuttle bus that makes the trip several times a day. They have an outdoor pool and a nice rooftop bar with cheap drinks and computers with free internet access. Most people think this is a bad part of San Jose. I don't agree. There are a lot of nice shops, restaurants, and bars in the area. If you stay at the hostel the whole time you'll really be cheating yourself. Don't be afraid of a different culture. Happy Travels!